End of the World, Take II
by Tigrita
Summary: When the world seemingly comes to an end in the near future, only Sealand and Lichtenstein are left. Now, when the world is threatened again, can they save the new countries they helped to raise? Warning: Lots of OCs.
1. Chapter 1

End of the World, Take II

A Hetalia Fanfic by Rosie Edelson

Ch. 1

It is an essential fact of evolution that whenever the world changes, it is the big animals that die and the small animals that survive. The dinosaurs and the woolly mammoths both had their turn ruling the world and then disappeared, but the birds and the rats lived on.

It is the same way with nations. In the twenty-first century, when the air filled with smoke, the waters rose, and the technology causing all of this raced ahead at terrifying speeds, the vast majority of nations simply could not cope. They fought the changes tooth and nail but in the end they were just too big to adapt. All they knew how to do was argue with each other, and that just wasted valuable time. Some said they needed to band together, others that it was every country for itself, and the most important power refused to admit that anything was even happening until it was too late. When the storms began, it was the last straw. Nation after nation failed to save their people and crumbled. Communications was virtually impossible, and nobody knew who was still hanging on and who was not. In the end, only two were left; the two small nations who tended to be kept out of the arguments.

The first was the smallest of all. He had the least to lose, which only made him fight more valiantly to protect it. His father, who still didn't believe he was a real country, offered to let him stay at his house until the storms had died down. This was probably simply because he would be by far the most affected by the waves, but the young nation would have none of his pity and babying. He built an air filtering system and a garden. He shut in and waterproofed everything, and along with a dozen of his most brave or foolish citizens, he barricaded himself in with food, medicine, and tools, and hoped that they would be enough.

Everything was constantly breaking or leaking, and he worked himself to the bone trying to keep his people safe and healthy. He considered himself lucky if he got eight hours of sleep a week. Many times he considered striking out for the mainland, but he always reminded himself of how proud his father would be of how he handled the situation, and how he would have to admit that he was a real country after all.

He only lost one person, a young boy like himself whose face he remembers vividly to this day. When the earth calmed and the rains ceased, he emerged, exhausted but proud. He was ready for some admiration from the rest of the world; he had earned it.

To his horror he found that there was nobody left to admire his bravery. There was nobody left at all- with one exception.

The girl didn't share his fighting spirit. She could easily have died with the rest, but for the selfless man who sacrificed himself to save her. She begged and pleaded him to take better care of himself, but she could do nothing but watch him starve slowly and exhaust himself so she could have enough to eat. On his deathbed, he made her promise that she would not give up, that the world would not end here. When the storms ended, she would seek out any other survivors and they would rebuild together.

He died holding her hand, and it took her days to let it go.

They both wandered alone, horrified by the destruction, until finally they found each other. Almost anyone would have given up there and then, but the boy had a singularly cheerful and determined outlook, and although the girl was not so energetic, she was still hopeful about the fate of the world. Besides, she had promised her "brother" to keep trying.

At first they planned to split the world between them, but they quickly realized that neither of them could handle that much responsibility, especially in a disaster. After sharing out most of Europe and bits of the rest of the world, they turned their attention to finding the raggedy clans and alliances that began to spring up and nurturing them into countries. It was hard work, but they put their hearts and souls into it, and were not disappointed.

Most of the new countries needed help naming themselves, but the two friends struggled to find proper ones. It was too painful to call them after their deceased friends or their regions, so they chose names of legend or ones that dated from before their birth. Songhai, Aztec, Vinland, Phoenicia. The three remotest and most deserted regions they left as Antarctica, Himalaya, and Sahara on the theory that natural features outlasted human structures. Society slowly rebuilt itself, and the two friends did their best to make sure the new world would not repeat the mistakes of the old. They taught the young nations how to guide their people and handle their government. They tried, unsuccessfully, to get everyone to get along. However, whatever squabbles broke out, the two greatest powers always stood united, trying their best to resolve the constant conflicts.

Countries grow fast when they need to, and when the world began to be able to handle itself, the thoughts of the two turned inexorably to their lost friends. The girl had taken to drawing, and created piles of faithful reproductions of the old countries laughing and smiling in better times. Together they scrounged to collect every fact they could, and compiled them into great libraries and museums. However, the new nations had little interest in their predecessors, and although the two did their best to keep the memories alive, they eventually accepted that sometimes the old has to be lost to make way for the new.


	2. Chapter 2

Countries fill the long conference room as they do every month, but the atmosphere is completely different from its usual. Instead of the boisterous banter, the room murmurs with subdued whispers. Everyone has dropped silent and is staring at the two figures at the front of the room long before the meeting is due to begin.

In a world where countries can exist for a century and age a year, Sealand looks ancient. His hair is gray and his skin is specked and wrinkled, but he still has lean, sinewy muscles and an upright stance, and his eyes are still bright and usually filled with innocent joy. Today they are not. He wears a military uniform of the type once worn around the world, but in a sky blue that matches his cap.

Lichtenstein is even older, and not as strong. She wears the jacket exactly like one once worn by the man who was her brother in spirit if not in blood, and a green skirt underneath; today she is wearing the original ribbon he gave her, the one she only takes out on very important occasions. It clashes horribly with her outfit, but lends her a dignity all the same because of its symbolism.

Despite the fact that most of the nations at the table consider them mother and father, and the general consensus is that "THEY'RE TOTALLY SCREWING!" the glance they share is simply one of two old friends who have seen a lot, perhaps too much, of the world together. (Nobody knows why most nations are so obsessed with love. Possibly because it's a big world, and it's nice to feel there's at least one country you can trust for sure. Even when that's not true.) They're more sober than usual today, and with good reason.

Sealand usually takes a childish pleasure in ringing a huge gong that sits at the head of the table to start the meetings, but today his heart is clearly not in it. He gives it a tap merely as a formality, and everyone wonders why he bothers, since he has the attention of the room already.

He tries to start his speech several times, but can't get the words out. Eventually he hands his notes to Lichtenstein, who begins to talk, muddling through his messy handwriting.

"Ahem… well, as most of you know, there's a large meteor on a collision course with Earth. A collision would be almost certainly deadly." Almost everyone present does in fact know this, but it sends a murmur through the crowd anyway. Only one country does not, and her reaction leaves much to be desired.

"A meteor crashing into earth? Um, wouldn't that kind of hurt?" asks Atlantis.

Everyone groans. Atlantis stretches along the entire northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from what was once Turkey on the east to Spain on the west. In most places she has only a thin strip of land, but she has the entirety of both Italy and Greece and she shows it.

Both Sealand and Lichtenstein delight in finding traces of their ancestors in the new countries; it makes them feel as though their friends were still alive, just a little. Atlantis is dreamy, flighty, and usually completely clueless; she has wavy brown hair resting around her shoulders, and wide grey eyes. Atlantis' main industry is tourism, and people come from around the globe to visit her beaches and sail in her fleets of yachts, cruise ships, and sailboats. Her coast is a solid wall of alternating harbors and beaches. Many ludicrously wealthy people keep summer homes in Atlantis, but her actual population is mostly working-class people who run the hotels and shops, and starving artists who go there to paint the scenery. However, almost everyone can find some sort of work, and people are pretty happy there on the whole. Atlantis is universally well liked, but sometimes, such as now, she can just be a complete idiot.

"Atlantis, I gave you a paper about this. Please try to stay more caught up on world events; it isn't good for you to be so out of it," says Zion. He's the only country using a name that was in use at the time of the disaster, by his own request. He originally sprung from a group of synagogues in Israel who banded together to survive, and although non-Jews are technically allowed in his country, he remains overwhelmingly religious to this day. He occupies about twice the area the old Israel did, but when his population grew too large, he set up a colony in Uganda, which is where most of his people live now. His physical age is about 27, one of the oldest- he was first group to pull itself together when the storms ended. He has light brown hair and thoughtful dark brown eyes and wears a short goatee, a kippah, and a tallit. Zion is regarded as harsh and occasionally a bit of a zealot, but he's kind and very wise if you have the patience to listen to his rambling anecdotes. He definitely has a crush on Atlantis, but nobody is sure if she reciprocates. He would have a better chance if he stopped trying to convert her. He doesn't force her- he's very nice about it- but Atlantis is generally atheist and all he does is make everyone uncomfortable.

"Quiet, everyone, please. Persia, please bring Atlantis up to speed." Persia, who is rumored to be crushing on Atlantis as well, pulls her off into a corner and they begin to whisper. Zion glowers; he and Persia usually get along fairly well-they argue a lot about religion and science, which Zion believes are entirely compatible but Persia does not, but they enjoy their debates and are actually beginning to be able to see the other's point of view. Atlantis is a sore spot between them, though- they both believe the other is going to corrupt her. As Persia talks, Atlantis looks steadily more horrified, but somehow he manages to keep her from disrupting the meeting.

"Anyway, many suggestions have been made to deal with the meteor, but all of them are virtually impossible or just as risky as the meteor itself." Ignoring Atlantis' restraining hand on his shoulder, Persia leaps to his feet, gesticulating wildly and explaining for the seven millionth time why his plan would work.

Persia covers India, Pakistan, a bit of southern China, and a bit of Iran and Afghanistan. He's a 21-year old Middle Eastern man in glasses, whose outfit is an amazing juxtaposition of a delicately woven robe of glowing colors and a light blue dress shirt. Somehow he pulls it off. He's extremely smart, but useless with small talk and has a chip on his shoulder about his intelligence for some reason. Popular opinion is that he's just generally insecure.

Persia and Lone Star begin the same highly technical shouting match that they've been having off and on for the past few months. It runs somewhat along the lines of "safely shattered by missiles" and "dangerous chunks and dust clouds" and "proper explosives" and "launch risks" and "I can do whatever I like with my space program" and "not when you're endangering the entire world, you idiot" and "shut up" and "it takes one to know one".

Lone Star takes up most of the southern United States, Cuba, and a thin strip of northern Mexico. She has America's glasses, his blue eyes, his golden-brown hair (although it's pulled into a high ponytail, and none of it sticks up),and his attitude. She's loud, outgoing, and although she's the shortest country around she could beat up anyone she wants in a fistfight (you do NOT make fun of her name), although she is slightly more intelligent, as evidenced by her steady stream of rocket science technicalities. She and Atlantis are best friends, and like several other countries sees it as her job to protect her. Unlike several other countries, her feelings are completely platonic. Probably.

Lichtenstein shushes the two squabblers and continues with the notes. "Don't feel pressured to follow this advice, but when I was young and the old countries were still alive… Um, Sealand, it says 'explain memory'. What's that?"

"Thanks for starting, Lichtenstein. I've got it from here." Lichtenstein hands over the paper. "All right. This happened during the Cold War-"

Sealand is rewarded with a room full of blank looks. They've been taught all about the old history, but most countries don't remember it very well. They're more concerned, as a group, with the present and the future.

Sealand sighs and facepalms. "The two biggest countries were really suspicious of each other, and either could destroy the world at any time. It was really scary," explains Lichtenstein. Everyone looks shocked. They're so used to Sealand and Lichtenstein's close friendship that they've never considered it could be another way.

"Sounds horrible-aru," says Hsing-Nu. His bearing is proud but not vain, noble but not rich. Although he occupies northern China and Russia, he is named not for either country but for the nomadic barbarians that occasionally raided China. Indeed, his part of the world never entirely rebuilt, and to this day he's still more of a loose confederation of nomads and gypsies than an actual cohesive country. As such, he's often deeply conflicted about important issues, and is the strong, silent type to begin with, so he rarely speaks. When he does, he uses China's "aru", but as an exclamation or an intensifier, not after every sentence. (With Hsing-Nu, "funny-aru" would translate to "really funny", as in "Sealand looks funny-aru in that hat.") He has a long mop of dark hair, and wears a traditional robe and a beaded necklace.

"It was," said Sealand. "Anyway, I was hanging around the World Meeting Office, as I usually did, and I overheard a conversation…"


	3. Chapter 3

The small boy crept towards the door and pressed his ear and eye to the door hinge in turns. The entire world was present, with a few minor exceptions and two very notable ones. "Good afternoon, aru," said China. "Thank you for coming to this unofficial meeting on such short notice, aru. The reason I've called you here today is that as the most powerful nation not directly allied with the US or the USSR-"

"CHINA! STOP LYING!" echoed from opposite corners of the room.

"Most powerful nation, my attractive and well-toned arse!"

"Don't talk about neutrality to Russia to ME, China! It's your wretched system that turned Prussia against me!"

"England, stop being bitter about your Empire, aru. Germany…" China looked pained. "Russia and I, we've had a falling out, aru. He's not himself anymore, aru… I don't know what happened to the Russia I knew, aru. He used to be so kind and-"

"I apologize for the interruption, Onii-san, but are we here solely to talk about your relationship problems?"

"Of course not, Japan, aru. I'm sorry, I'm getting off topic, aru. Why I've called you here is because I believe the world needs a contingency plan in case nuclear war breaks out, aru."

"We've all got them, China-san."

"No offense, Japan, but you should know better than anyone that ducking and covering is not going to help, aru."

Japan winced, and China was about to apologize-it was still a very sore spot, especially as they had been on different sides of the conflict, but Japan only smiled and said, "Excuse my impoliteness, Onii-san. Please explain your plan."

"Right, aru. So in the event of war, we all want to protect our citizens, right, aru?" The answer was a resounding yes, mixed with a touch of "Of course, you idiot," and "Are you implying something?"

"It was a rhetorical question, aru. Why are you all so touchy, aru?"

The room seemed about to devolve into argument, but China yelled, "Everyone please focus, aru! This is important, aru!

Okay, I don't want to pressure anyone into this, aru… it's kind of an odd idea, aru… but I think we should all prepare rockets so at the first sign of war, our civilians can safely escape to space, aru."

There wass a moment of surprised silence as the other nations processed this, and another few moments of thoughtful silence as they thought it over. Finally everyone burst into speech at once. A few nations are were saying that China's plan is just crazy enough to work, but more were saying that it wass crazy enough to fail.

"That's crazy, China!"

"I think rocket ships would be a lot of fun, ve~"

"Come on, there's no way we could build that many ships! It costs millions to make one for a few people!"

"Italy, you don't know what's good for you! Besides, it's impossible!"

"How would we get all our people there in time?"

"THAT'S RIDICULOUS, BASTARD!"

"Lovi, !tranquilizate!"

"That would just make America and Russia think we were trying to attack them!"

China waited for the clamor to die down. He'd expected resistance, but…

"And one more thing, aru… if all our people were stuck in space together, it would be best if we…weren't with them, aru. It would help them bond and see themselves as representing the world instead of their countries, aru."

France Rose to his feet and asked the question that was now bubbling up in everybody's mind.

"China…how do we know this isn't a plot to take over all our countries in space?"

China had clearly been anticipating this question and had an answer prepared.

"France, if I declared myself ruler of the world as soon as you were all out of the picture, would your citizens take that quietly, aru?"

"Non! They would put you to the guillotine!"

"And all of your citizens, aru?" China waved a hand to the rest of the room.

"They'd crush you!"

"They'd never stand for it!"

They'd fling you out into the vacuum of space and watch you be torn apart atom by atom!"

"…That's a bit more detail than I cared for, Spain, aru. And how would this bide for my people, aru?"

"Well… they'd be picked on. Possibly massacred."

"Exactly, aru. I'm only doing what's best for my people, aru. And so should you, aru."

"Well- it's still a ridiculous idea!"

"Fine, aru. I can see that my ideas aren't any good, aru. But I still think we should come up with some plan together, aru.." They would see their mistake when their people were dying and his were poised to reclaim the world as soon as it recovered. Oh, they would see.

A small, sailor-capped head poked through the slightly open door. "You should stop being so mean to China! I think her idea is pretty cool, even if it wouldn't work, and at least she's doing something!"

"Thank you for the encouragement, Sealand, but I am in fact a man, aru," grumbled China.

"Prove it!" yelled France, who was icily ignored by everyone else.

"Sealand! What are you doing here!" snapped England.

"I wanted to hear what you were talking about! And I can help! I've got good ideas! Even better than China's!" China was now beginning to harbor a marked dislike for the boy.

"Sealand, this is a big nation conversation. Go home."

"But-"

"I am your father, and I promise you that I will protect you from any danger you run into. Now. Go. Home."

"I'm a real nation, and I want to help!"

"Sealand, if you're bored, you could always go play with Lichtenstein. She gets lonely when I'm not there," said Switzerland.

"FINE! Have your stupid meeting! I don't care! I'll be happy when you all blow up!"

And with that, Sealand stormed out, not to return.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe I said that," moans Sealand, hiding his face with a hand.

"Don't blame yourself, Sealand," says Lichtenstein. "You were young, and in a bad mood, and you couldn't have known. I remember that, actually- you never told me why you were so upset."

"Right," continues Sealand, wiping away his tears. "In that case, it was a pretty bad idea. They didn't have enough warning time, the technology wasn't there. By the time of the disaster, China's plan had unfortunately been long forgotten."

"But things are different now. I'm not asking any of you to do anything you're not prepared to do, but… think it over, okay?"

Songhai raises his hand. "Hey, Sealand? How would we decide who gets to go? Are we going to charge lots of money to get on, or something?"

"SONGHAI!"

"That's horrible! Who would leave their neediest citizens behind!"

"Why are you so obsessed-aru with your money?"

"If the world ends, it's not like you'll need your precious gold!"

"Okay, okay!" Songhai waves for quiet. "But come on, at least it's a better system than just picking randomly! This way you make sure to get all the best people…"

Everyone begins to yell at Songhai again. Sealand rings the gong, with slightly more effort that he used the first time.

"Songhai, if I do this, I'm taking all my people. I'm not leaving a single one behind if I can help it, and I expect the other countries feel the same way."

"Fine. But I'm running the numbers-" he holds up a calculator- "-and taking the entire planet would take millions of trillions of trillions of dollars. Where do you think we're going to get all that money?"

Songhai stretches from the western Middle East in Saudi Arabia, across the Red Sea and under Sahara all the way to the west edge of Africa. He sits over the ruins of the ancient empires of oil, and the still more ancient empires of oil, and he does business in a way that would make all of them red with pride and green with envy. He's the richest nation in the world, full of billionaires and with an amazingly low number of poor people. After all, he can afford to help them. He can afford to do anything he likes. If you're not a millionaire in Songhai, it's as if you're penniless in any other nation. A million's not so much anymore, but still.

Songhai himself is tall, dark and handsome. His head is shaved and he covers it with a round cap characteristic of African traders. He wears a linen shirt looking like a white robe that could reach to his feet, but is instead cut off mid-thigh, revealing a pair of loose linen pants. The outfit looks simple, but is betrayed by the intricate designs of his slippers and his cord belt of pure woven gold.

Songhai is affable, persuasive, and magnanimous when he wants to be, but has a reputation for unscrupulous business deals. He would never collect on a nation's debt when it was struggling, but by the time they had recovered enough to pay him back their interest rate would have mysteriously tripled or quadrupled. He's had problems with human rights issues since forever, and even now there are heated arguments over health insurance in his country. He loves the way gold glitters, and tends to put that above other concerns. He is widely liked, but narrowly trusted.

Lichtenstein and Sealand fretted long and hard over whether to give one country so much power. Eventually they concluded that it would be better not to have many very rich and violent countries the way they used to, and together they could keep one country in check. Songhai's had several bloody civil wars so far, but he's handled them all bravely. He complains that the world tax is intended

specifically to control him, and it mostly is, but it's a necessary step. Without it, Songhai would grow far too powerful for his own good, or anyone's. He has a lot of clout as it is.

"Well, I suppose we'll all have to raise taxes." Everyone groans. "And if anyone can't come up with enough money for ships for all their people, then we can take it from the world budget-"

"Meaning you're going to take my money, right?"

"Yes, Songhai. Are you saying that you refuse to help save the lives of other countries' people?" chimes in Zion.

"Of course not, asshole! It's just not fair that you're all always taking all my money!"

"Why, you selfish little-"

"ZION! That's none of your of your business, so butt out!" yells Aztec.

"None of my business? What about you, hm?"

"Um, Aztec, I got this on my-"

"Sit down, Songhai. I'll handle this!"

"Why are you always protecting him? It's because you want his gold, isn't it?"

"He's my brother! And why are you always picking on him? You're just a jealous, bitter-"

GOOONNGGGGG goes Sealand from the front of the room. "All three of you sit down!"

"But-"

"NOW."

The three nations drop into their seats, scowling at each other. Although the original Aztec empire only covered most of Mexico, this Aztec stretches from his border with Lone Star down through South America. He contains the parts of Argentina where thousands of Nazi soldiers escaped to after WWII, and he has something of Germany in his bearing and attitude if not in his looks. Unfortunately, he's also inherited some of both Germany and the original Aztec's brutality, although he's slowly growing out of it. He and Zion are the two most old-fashioned countries, but have very different views about, well, everything, so they frequently butt heads. The others call them "A&Z" or "Opposites Attract", but not within earshot. Both Zion and Aztec's statements about Songhai are correct- they consider themselves brothers, and Aztec is the only one who can get honest answers out of Songhai, but their love of gold is definitely a bonding factor. He wears a bright orange cloak and several fancy necklaces around his neck, and, to the delight of the female nations, nothing else on the top half of his body. Underneath he wears a wrapped fabric skirt that Grandpa Rome might have been proud of and woven reed sandals.

"Hey!" pipes in Lone Star. "Why are we talking about this like it's actually happening? Nobody's agreed to anything yet!"

Lone Star and Aztec are on decent terms, but they don't have much in common and tend to ignore each other. Lone Star spends more time with her older brother Vinland, who has been watching the meeting silently with a mixture of concern and amusement on his , who covers Canada and much of the northern US, has much more in common with his Scandinavian namesake than with the meek former owner of his land. He can be outgoing and energetic when he wants to be (usually when he's drunk, and is he ever a riot then) but he usually prefers to keep quiet. He is very close to nature and is best friends with Hsing-Nu, who he has much in common with. He's very protective of Lone Star, and everyone agrees he's a stabilizing factor on her erratic personality. He has piercing blue eyes and long auburn hair with a full, flowing beard that makes him look about as twice as old as he actually is. He wears a heavy, floor-length mauve felt coat with fur lining and a checkered, earflapped hat.

"Good point, Lone Star," says Lichtenstein. "Why don't we all go home and think about this? We can all make our decisions and vote at our next meeting."

"Let's have it in two weeks, not a month," says Phoenicia. "And we ought to have a unanimous vote to adopt this measure; we can't just force countries to do something this drastic, but we can't just tell some people they can go and others can't."

Phoenicia spreads along the coast of North Africa from the mouth of the Nile River all the way to the Strait of Gilbratar. She only inhabits the thin strip of green land at the edge of the desert, but she also has all the islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and a chunk of Turkey and Syria between Atlantis and Zion. Like Atlantis, she's a coastline country, and like like Songhai, she's a country of business, but there the similarities end. She does tend to space out sometimes, but otherwise she's very intelligent and focused, and has a lot of common sense. Unlike Songhai, who values profit over product, Phoenicia is a proud craftswoman and artesian. She makes beautiful blue and purple dyes, delicately styled pottery, and her art schools are the finest in the world. Although she's usually cold and distant towards most nations, she's wildly passionate about her art and spends most of her free time with Lichtenstein, sketching and painting together. She has bright blue eyes not unlike Vinland's, shoulder-length black hair, and a very flat chest, especially compared to Lone Star and Atlantis. She

wears a paint-spattered t-shirt, and a intricately batiked, embroidered, and dyed indigo skirt.

"Sounds good. Everybody think carefully, and be ready for next week," says Sealand. "Meeting adjourned."

As the countries file out, talking animatedly, the three Desolates pull Sealand aside.

"Ah, what is it?" he asks. The Desolates, Himalaya, Sahara, and Antarctica, always attend the meetings, but rarely speak. Despite their wild differences in race (Antarctica is albino) they could pass as triplets, and generally creep everyone else out. Only Vinland and Hsing-Nu ever talk to them, because of their connections to nature, and even Sealand and Lichtenstein dread their infrequent conversations.

Speaking as one, they say, "We are prepared to accept any decision you come to. However, we would prefer that you do not abandon us."

"Great, see you, bye," stammers Sealand, and scurries off after Lichtenstein.


End file.
